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| João Donato's A Bad Donato | |
|---|---|
| Name | A Bad Donato |
| Type | studio |
| Artist | João Donato |
| Released | 1970 |
| Recorded | 1969–1970 |
| Studio | RCA Studios, Rio de Janeiro |
| Genre | Bossa nova, jazz, funk |
| Length | 34:12 |
| Label | RCA Victor |
| Producer | Eumir Deodato |
| Prev title | Quem é Quem |
| Prev year | 1969 |
| Next title | Muito à Vontade |
| Next year | 1971 |
João Donato's A Bad Donato is a studio album by Brazilian pianist and composer João Donato released on RCA Victor in 1970. Merging elements of bossa nova, jazz, and funk, the record was produced during a prolific era for Brazilian popular music alongside contemporaneous releases by Antônio Carlos Jobim, Caetano Veloso, and Gilberto Gil. The album's sessions involved leading arrangers and session musicians from the Rio de Janeiro scene and reflected broader transatlantic exchanges with United States jazz studios and producers such as Eumir Deodato.
Recorded in late 1969 and early 1970 at RCA Studios, Rio de Janeiro and mixed with input from engineers experienced with artists like Elis Regina and Jorge Ben Jor, the sessions featured arrangements influenced by the collaborations of Donato with Claudia Telles and touring work with Baden Powell. Donato's earlier links to the Bossa Nova movement and performances with figures such as João Gilberto and Stan Getz informed the album's rhythmical choices. Producer Eumir Deodato, who had arranged for Sérgio Mendes and later worked with Frank Sinatra and Aretha Franklin, contributed orchestral textures and horn voicings reminiscent of contemporary soul and funk records emanating from New York City and Los Angeles studios.
Compositions on the album blend Donato's melodic lines with syncopated grooves drawing from samba-rock and American jazz-funk, echoing idioms explored by Herbie Hancock, Miles Davis, and Jimmy Smith. Tracks alternate between intimate piano-led vignettes and fuller ensemble pieces with brass arrangements that recall the work of Gil Evans and Quincy Jones. Harmonic language shows the influence of Brazilian contemporaries like Moacir Santos and Ruy Guerra collaborations, while rhythmic frameworks align with percussionists associated with Airto Moreira and Naná Vasconcelos. The album's tonal palette incorporates electric keyboards, Fender Rhodes textures popularized by Chick Corea, and percussive patterns linked to candomblé-derived rhythms.
Released by RCA Victor in 1970, the album's cover art and sleeve notes were created by designers who had worked with Elenco Records releases and visual artists in São Paulo's modernist circles connected to Tom Jobim album aesthetics. Marketing targeted both domestic Brazilian audiences and international distributors in France, Japan, and the United Kingdom, where demand for bossa nova and Brazilian jazz had been stimulated by earlier imports featuring Stan Getz and Charlie Byrd. Pressing issues varied between vinyl editions for LP collectors and promotional singles aimed at radio programmers who had supported releases by Gal Costa and Os Mutantes.
Contemporary reviews compared Donato's approach to the evolving fusion experiments of Weather Report and the orchestrated pop-jazz of Paul Desmond collaborations, noting the album's tasteful integration of Brazilian syncopation with international production values. Critics writing for publications influenced by the coverage of DownBeat and European music journals highlighted the arrangements by Eumir Deodato and performances by session musicians associated with Selma Reis and Tania Maria. Retrospective appraisals in reissue liner notes placed the record alongside landmark works by João Gilberto, Antônio Carlos Jobim, and Carmen Miranda in discussions of Brazilian music's globalization.
1. "Introdução Tropical" – 3:12 2. "Samba Num Blues" – 4:05 3. "Noites Cariocas" – 5:00 4. "Funk em Preto e Branco" – 3:40 5. "Balada do Barquinho" – 3:30 6. "Rio Nights" – 4:20 7. "Café com Jazz" – 3:25 8. "Saudade e Swing" – 6:00
- João Donato – piano, electric piano, arranger - Eumir Deodato – producer, horn arrangements - Roberto Menescal – guitar (guest) - Luizão Maia – bass - Dom Um Romão – drums, percussion - Airto Moreira – percussion (guest) - Claudio Slon – drums - Mauricio Maestro – trumpet - Paulo Moura – saxophone - Nara Leão – backing vocals - Recording engineer – Ary Carvalhaes - Orchestral contractor – Chico Batera
The album influenced later Brazilian and international artists exploring fusion, including Sergio Mendes's crossover projects, Hermeto Pascoal's experimental ensembles, and the acid jazz revivals in United Kingdom club culture. Samples and covers by contemporary producers in Japan's crate-digging scene and United States hip-hop producers drew on Donato's grooves much like reissues that highlighted work by Moondog and Les Baxter. Musicologists studying the diffusion of bossa nova into jazz fusion curricula often cite the record alongside albums by Antônio Carlos Jobim, Caetano Veloso, and Gal Costa as exemplars of late-60s/early-70s Brazilian innovation. Reissues by specialty labels prompted renewed interest among collectors of LPs, DJs, and academic researchers focusing on transnational sound exchanges.
Category:1970 albums Category:João Donato albums